Suburban Chicago school district cracks down on reckless drivers with new tech

CHICAGO - This school year, one district is gearing up to get more drivers to stop when students are getting on and off buses. Their approach is similar to using a red-light camera, but this time it’s on a school bus.

In a Fox 32 special report, Elizabeth Matthews found out how it works and what drivers need to know.

Some parents might not worry when their children are getting on or off their school bus.

Video captured the moment when one suburban Chicago student got off his school bus to head home from school. Just as he exited the bus, a car drove right through the stop arm.

"You're supposed to be able to go to your bus stop and be safe, you're supposed to get on the bus and be safe," one parent said.

In 2018, three children died in Indiana, and another was injured after they were hit by a pick-up truck while boarding their school bus.

The driver told investigators she didn’t realize the school bus was stopped, even though the stop arm was out, and lights were flashing.

"A school bus stop sign is a stop sign," said Ron Johnson, director of support operations for Indian Prairie District 204 in Aurora. "It is a traffic control device you have to stop. Just think these are children around school buses not necessarily looking for you to not stop."

Part of Johnson’s job is to oversee bus transportation for students.

"We have about 27,000 students in the district. We are the fourth largest in the state of Illinois. We transport about 68% to 70% of our students. So about 16,000 to 17,000 of them," he said.

Johnson said it takes 260 school bus drivers and 1,100 routes a day to get their students to and from school.

With that many students on the road, drivers who don’t stop for school bus stop arms was already a big safety concern for him and his team. It’s also one that was hard to tackle.

"Last year, it was reliant on the driver getting make, model, plate number and the time and date it occurred. Last year, we had 15, and that was the entire school year. If you think about it, we run 1,100 routes a day. Early childhood - 260 drivers, so 260 vehicles. So, 15 out of all of those opportunities for a violation to be reported. We think we’re going to get a little bit more," Johnson said.

So far, they are, thanks to a fourth camera.

"This is our first year utilizing it, and we’re seeing a lot more stop arm violations being reported because it’s a little bit easier for drivers," he said.

This new camera, which sits right next to the school bus stop arm, recorded the violation of the suburban Chicago student who was nearly struck.

All buses transporting District 204 students have one this year.

For drivers like James Canady, that makes his job just a little bit easier.

"Every day. Every day," Canady said. "I personally have had up to five or six blown stop arms in one day."

Canady and his co-workers at First Student Transportation gave Fox 32 a quick demonstration to show how they report stop arm violations with this new set up.

With the push of a button, Canady radios the bus service's dispatcher that a stop arm violation has occurred, and the camera system sends a video clip of the violation to the service's road supervisors. The service's safety director then sends it to the local police department.

"This is much more effective," said Jeanne Junkas, a road supervisor with First Student Transportation.

While the school year has just started, Junkas said they've already sent quite a few recorded violations to local police.

"In one day, you can have 15," Junkas said.

Just over a month into the new school year and the district is reporting a 300% increase in the number of reports they've sent over.

The Naperville Police Department is one of several local law enforcement agencies the school district and bus company sends the tapes to.

"We’ve heard we’re in a hurry to get to work," said Commander Rick Krakow of the Naperville Police Department. "Or we’ve been distracted. Also, we’ve heard maybe people didn’t know all the laws around stop arm violations."

Krakow said once they receive a video tape from the school bus company, officers review it to see if a warning or a citation should be issued.

"A stop arm violation is very serious. The first offense, if convicted, is a mandatory three-month suspension of your driver’s license and a $300 fine. A second conviction is a mandatory one-year suspension and a $1,000 fine with community service possibilities," Krakow said.

Krakow said so far, they've seen about a 25% increase in reported stop arm violations compared to last year.

"We know it is much more than we actually have reported," said Ron Wilke, the school safety coordinator for District 204. "You are seeing more accidents. You are seeing more violations, and a quick Google search will show you that other states are dealing with this as well," Wilke added.

According to a recent survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, 26% of school bus drivers nationwide reported over 66,000 vehicles illegally passed their buses on a single day during the 2023-2024 school year.

If all school bus drivers participated in the survey, the association estimates there would have been 251,000 illegal passes in one day and more than 45 million stop arm violations for all of the last school year.

"It should be pretty obvious. It’s also in the rules of the road. To get your driver’s license, you have to know this information," Wilke said.

It’s also important to note that if police ask you who was driving your car when stop arm violation occurred, and you refuse to tell them, your vehicle registration could be suspended for three months.

That’s also part of Illinois' stop arm law.

This week is also National School Bus Safety Week.